By CASEY MCNERTHNEY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, April 7, 2010

A King County jury unanimously agreed Wednesday that a Seattle police officer was facing "an imminent threat of death" or serious injury when he shot and killed Maurice Clemmons, a man wanted for the slayings of four Lakewood police officers.

Kelly testified that he recognized Clemmons, who was the subject of two-day manhunt, by the large mole on his left cheek.

A mug shot had been circulated among police departments and shown to Kelly hours before he was confronted. He also was told Clemmons was carrying the gun of one of the officers he killed.

Police later found that gun in Clemmons' pocket. "The first thing that came into my mind is 'OK, I'm kind of in trouble here, and I better do something,"' he told the court Monday in his first public comments about the incident.

Investigators say Clemmons had sworn to shoot anyone who tried to arrest him.

King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kristin Richardson said Wednesday the jurors thought Kelly acted appropriately and that "they have an appreciation for the decisions he made."

Minutes after court was adjourned Wednesday, Kelly said he hoped the inquest result brings closure for the families of the Lakewood officers.

The full audio recordings from the three-day inquest was obtained Wednesday by Seattlepi.com.

The clip below is from Monday -- Kelly's first public discussion of the incident.

Video taken from Kelly's patrol car was shown several times to the six inquest jurors -- three men and three women. The footage, which does not have sound, shows Clemmons going around the front of the car and backup units arriving.

The jurors also heard Kelly's radio call the night he shot Clemmons. It begins with him identifying the stolen Acura. After shooting Clemmons, Kelly tried to use his radio three times before being able to call for backup.

"I have shots fired, our suspect from the homicides down in Lakewood just approached my vehicle and ran off," Kelly said on the police radio.

"Where are you, sir?" a dispatcher asked.

"I'm out of, out in front of 4430 S. Kenyon," Kelly answered. "He ran northbound through that yard."

Hear the full recording here:

Kelly later testified that he didn't follow Clemmons because he couldn't locate him and thought the suspect might re-approach him. Kelly then grabbed his shotgun.

"If anything I was more at risk because when it first started I knew exactly where he was," Kelly said. "Now I had no idea where he was."

Hear Kelly's testimony from late Monday here:

On Tuesday, Kelly explained portions of the video where the camera rocked. He thought that occurred when he got out of his patrol vehicle, though Kelly said things moved quickly, making his perception open to distortion.

Kelly fired after Clemmons didn't respond to commands to show his hands.

"Believe me: Under stress it was rapid, it was loud and rapid," Kelly told the court of his orders. "I was drawing my sidearm as I'm issuing those commands, and by the time I had finished issuing those commands he was moving by me."

Hear that section of Kelly's testimony here:

Veteran officer Daina Boggs respond to the scene and found in Clemmons ' pocket the gun that belonged to Greg Richards -- one of the four Lakewood officers shot to death Nov. 29.

"I grabbed the gun with my right hand and … I just yelled "Gun!" at that time to notify everybody," she said.

She tried to remove the gun, but couldn't get it out of Clemmons' pocket. Police believe Clemmons didn't fire at Kelly because the gun was stuck in his sweatshirt pocket.

Hear Boggs' full testimony here:

Richards fired back at Clemmons on Nov. 29 before dying at the Forza Coffee Shop near Lakewood. One of the shots hit Clemmons in the back, but did not strike any major organs.

The wound would not have been fatal, Associate King County Medical Examiner Dr. Aldio Fusaro testified Tuesday.

Hear Fusaro's full testimony below:

The six jurors, pulled from a pool of 30, had to answer 19 questions in writing with one of three responses: "yes," "no" or "unknown."

They unanimously agreed that Kelly, a five-year police veteran, was briefed about Clemmons before starting his shift the night of Nov. 30, and that he saw the stolen Acura at the scene where he found Clemmons. The gold-colored car was left running with the hood up.

They also unanimously agreed that Kelly recognized the man who approached him as Clemmons.

All said it was unknown if Kelly ordered Clemmons to show his hands. There was no audio recording of that interaction which Kelly described.

Click on the audio player below to hear King County District Court Judge Arthur Chapman read all 19 questions and the jurors responses.

Richardson, the King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor, said a private investigator representing Clemmons' family contacted the office today. A lawyer for the family did not contact the court, and two letters sent to Clemmons' wife about the inquest were not returned, according to the prosecutor's office.

The judge said he thought Clemmons' family had an ample chance to be represented.